Secrets
by Gottaluvit
Summary: Roy Harper meets someone special...why does he keep it secret? What happens when it all goes horribly wrong. Completely AU no canon in it. This story has been altered recently and some chapters have been changed
1. Chapter 1

**Title- Secrets**

**Author- Kim**

**Summary- Roy meets someone special.**

**Disclaimer- DC owns all characters.**

**Part 1**

**Roy leaned back as he sat on the park bench, contentedly watching Lian playing with the other children in the sand box. He had been promising to bring her here all week, but his work as Arsenal had meant that they had to keep delaying the outing. Lian understood, but that didn't make Roy feel any more comfortable with having to put it off, he wanted his little girl to understand that she was the most important thing in his life and he had to wonder if his having to delay such special time together was sending her the wrong message.**

**Roy sat up straighter and moved further towards the end of the bench as a woman with a stroller approached, allowing her space to sit and place the stroller between them. The baby in the stroller leaned around to look at Roy, his little face lighting up with a smile, "Hi little guy." Roy said returning the smile before glancing at the woman, he noted instantly that the toddlers mother who appeared to be in her early twenties, was a good looking blonde. "Cute kid." he remarked.**

**The woman smiled back at him.."Thanks." she said as she reached down to unclasp the little boy from the stroller and placed him on the ground in front of where she was sitting as she moved the stroller out of the way.**

**The little boy immediately crawled to the bench and pulled himself into a standing position, holding on as he precariously started to make his way towards Roy. Briefly letting go of the seat the toddler stood on woobly legs for a moment before plonking to the ground on his bottom.**

**"Just learning to walk?" Roy asked.**

**"Oh hell yes, and getting into everything." his mother said smiling.**

**Roy chuckled. "I remember that stage well, keeps you on your toes...By the way my names Roy..Roy Harper."**

**"Rachael Storey." the young woman said as she helped the baby back up.**

**The little boy again set off on his mission to reach Roy.**

**"How many children do you have?" Rachael asked **

**"That's my little Princess over there." Roy pointed to Lian, before quickly reaching out a hand to steady the baby as he almost toppled backwards.**

**"She's beautiful, you and your wife must be very proud." Rachael replied as she watched as the little girl turned to look at her father and offered him a smile and a wave.**

**"I am proud, I'll be the first to admit it..she's the light of my life...There is no wife by the way, just me and my little princess..." Roy said holding the little boys hand as the baby attempted to climb into his lap.."Um..Do you mind?" he asked nodding at the child.**

**Rachael smiled "No, go ahead..His name's Sam."**

**Roy lifted the little boy into his arms**

**Rachael smiled as she watched her son wrapping his chubby arms around Roy's neck.**

**"Well he sure ain't shy." Roy laughed as he attempted to wipe drool off his shoulder.**

**"No he's certainly not that, he'll go to any one, especially men I have to watch him like a hawk, I guess it's probably because..." Rachael's voice trailed off and she looked uncomfortable before continuing. "Well his father isn't around anymore." she finished quietly.**

**Roy glanced at her, but before he could say anything Lian come running over. "Daddy, you got a baby." she said happily, climbing up on the seat beside Roy and patting the baby on the back.**

**Roy laughed "I'm holding a baby..I didn't get one, we can't keep him." he said.**

**"I know that silly Daddy." Lian said frowning at her father, "What's his name?" she asked happily.**

**"Sam...and this is his Mom, Rachael" Roy said.**

**Lian turned to look at the woman beside her. "You got a baby?..Your so lucky." Lian said seriously "I asked my Dad to get a baby once and he said we have to wait till he finds the right Mommy...I asked Miss Carpelly if she would..." Lian stopped as Roy choked and spluttered.**

**"You asked your teacher?" He finally managed to splutter, red faced.**

**"Well Daddy your not good at picking Mommies and Miss Carpelly is really nice." Lian said **

**Rachael glanced at Roy's red face and horrified look and burst out laughing.**

**"Man..I'll never be able to face your teacher again..We're gonna have to change your school." Roy joked half seriously.**

**Lian looked shocked, "But I like my school." she whimpered.**

**"I think your Daddy's just joking honey." Rachael said.**

**"Oh" Lian said.. Then turned to look from her father to Rachael and back again, a slow smile formed on her face as an idea formed, "Daddy's taking me out to lunch aren't you Daddy?" she asked.**

**"I sure am Baby Doll." Roy said as he shook his head to untangle his hair from Sam's little hands.**

**"That's nice sweetheart." Rachael smiled.**

**"Did you bring your lunch with you?" Lian asked.**

**"No Honey..We'll probably go home soon and get something then." Rachael replied.**

**Lian jumped off seat and dragged the stroller towards Roy, "That's ok..Daddy will buy you lunch too ..won't you Daddy?" she asked, looking expectantly at her father.**

**"Oh..I don't.." Rachael stammered.**

**"Please...I wanta play with Sam." Lian said pleadingly.**

**Roy looked flustered. "Uh..yeah sure, why not..That's if you don't have anything else more important to do?" Roy finally managed to ask.**

**Rachael looked from Roy to Lian, the little girl had focused those big brown eye's on her expectantly. She paused momentarily before replying. "How can I say no...but I'll buy my own lunch." she said smiling.**

**end 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

**Roy leaned back against the tree behind him, watching the interactions between his daughter and Rachael. They had been only seeing each other for a fortnight, but already he could feel that this woman was different to any other woman he had dated..different in a good way. He chuckled softly as he watched Lian animatedly telling the young woman something that caused them both to burst into laughter, his little girl had instantly taken a shine to the pretty blonde and that spoke volumes to Roy.**

**A soft sound caused him to look down at the little boy asleep on the rug beside him, and he gently reached out and began to pat the baby on the back...the infant stirred, then settled back into sleep. Roy stopped patting and stroked the babies hair, smiling to himself of the memories the action evoked, Lian had been about the same age when he took her to live with him.**

**"Your doing a great job there, anyone who can keep him asleep in worth their weight in gold." Rachael said as she approached and sat beside him.**

**"Worth my weight in gold hey? That's the first time I've been told that, smiling at her, then glancing over at Lian who was pushing another child on the swing.**

**"She's made a new little friend." Rachael remarked.**

**"She's always making new friends...She's completely loveable, at trait she didn't inherit from me." Roy joked savoring the closeness of the young women beside him, the scent of her perfume drifting over to him.**

**"Oh I don't know about that...Seems to me that's one of your main characteristics." she said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.**

**"Nice to know there's at least someone who thinks so." he said softly.**

**She looked up at him and found herself drawn to his gaze, watching his eye's as emotions quickly flashed across their brilliant green depths...sadness?...Desire? A mixture of both.**

**"I'm sure a lot of people think so." she whispered, mesmerized.**

**He reached out to brush the side of her face, then slowly ran his hand through her hair, cupping the back of her neck and drawing her towards him, leaning in to kiss her gently...testingly.**

**She moved in response and he deepened the kiss, both their hearts racing as her placed his other hand on her lower back and pulled her to him.**

**She slid her hands up over his chest, conscious of the ripple of muscles under his thin shirt..**

**"Daaad." and indignant voice cut the moment like a knife.**

**Roy pulled away, "Uh...hi sweetheart." he stammered, looking at his daughter who stood with her hands on her hips.**

**Rachael felt herself blush, feeling a little silly at being caught out by a five year old.**

**Lian rolled her eye's, "That's a gross kiss!" she said as she sat down between the two adults.**

**Roy laughed, "Remember that when you turn eighteen kiddo." he joked.**

**Rachael reached out and pulled the little girl into a hug. "Any boy that wants to kiss you like that had better make sure your Daddy doesn't own a shotgun first." she laughed.**

**Lian looked confused, "Daddy has lot's of guns." she replied innocently.**

**Rachael glanced at Roy who shifted uncomfortably.**

**"Daddy keeps them locked up so I can't play with them." Lian pouted.**

**Looking down at the little girl Rachael replied, "I should hope so." her voice sounding uneasy.**

**Roy watched the two of them, noticing Rachael was now avoiding eye contact with him...He knew he owed her some sort of explanation..Especially if he wanted this relationship to go further, and he was beginning to feel that was definitely something that he wanted, he only hoped Rachael wanted the same thing...and that she'd still want that after he told her about his life. He sighed "They're for my work." he said.**

**Rachael looked up at him, suddenly realizing how little they knew about each other. She felt uncomfortable at the mention of the guns, but not because she didn't trust Roy..she had felt she could from the moment they first met..but because she had been hurt before and realizing that she was falling in love with a man she hardly knew anything about made her feel vulnerable.**

**"I guess we had better decide were we'd like to go with this...with us, and if we both want the same thing we'll need to have a long talk." Roy said as he gazed intensely at her.**

**She held his gaze for a moment, before nodding and looking down at the little girl in her arms, who was looking up at her innocently...She kissed the top of the childs head and Lian broke into a bright smile. Looking at Roy again, unsure if what she was about to say was the best thing for her, but feeling she needed to take a chance, "I think we should have that talk...I have things I need to tell you as well." she said.**

**end 2**


	3. Chapter 3

part 3

**They arranged to meet at Roy's apartment the next day, and Rachael organized for her neighbor to watch Sam so they could talk in relative peace.**

**Sitting at the kitchen table, she marveled at the landscapes that hung on the wall and the native American theme that seemed to dominate the decoration of the room. Roy had visited her apartment frequently but this was the first time she had been to his home.**

**As Roy busied himself in the kitchen making coffee, Racheal commented on a landscape that hung on the wall. "That's so beautiful, the colors reflect beautifully in the sun." she said.**

**"Arizona is one of the most beautiful places on earth...there's nothing quite like going camping and laying back at night and watching the stars..there's so many of them and the sky is so clear you feel like you could reach out and touch them." Roy said.**

**"That sounds wonderful...I've never been to Arizona...In fact I've never been camping." Rachael said.**

**"You never been camping?" Lian's shocked little voice said as she walked out of her room. "Not ever?..Didn't your Daddy ever take you?"**

**"No honey, my Daddy was always too busy to do things like that with me." Rachael replied.**

**"But my Daddy's busy and he still takes me...He say's I'm more important than anything else in the world." Lian said.**

**"Your Daddy's very special." Racheal said as she put her arm around the little girls shoulders. "Your a lucky girl."**

**"Yeah...he's ok." Lian replied snuggling against the young woman.**

**"Ok?..Ok?.. Just ok?..What do I need to do to impress you young lady?" Roy said feigning shock.**

**Lian giggled. "All right...he's the best Daddy." she said.**

**"That's better, I have a hungry ego to feed you know." Roy said.**

**"Your silly Daddy." Lian replied smiling.**

**"Yeah Daddy your silly." Rachael added laughing.**

**Roy handed her a cup of coffee and placed a cup of chocolate milk on the table for Lian, who was now busy dragging all her favorite toy's out to show Rachael.**

**"You have a lot of beautiful toys sweetheart." Rachael commented as she moved back so the little girl could climb into her lap. Rachael ran her fingers through the little girls hair, the long black strands slipping easily through her fingers. "And you have beautiful hair." she said.**

**"I've got hair like my Mommy...Haven't I Daddy?" Lian said, tossing her head for emphasis.**

**"You sure have Etai yazi." Roy said as he pulled out a chair and sat down with his own cup of coffee in hand.**

**"Etai yazi?" Rachael looked questioningly at Roy.**

**"Daddy calls me that sometimes...Daddy is Navajo." Lian said.**

**Rachael's gaze took in at Roy's red hair and fair complexion and she looked confused.**

**Roy laughed. "I was raised Navajo until I was thirteen...My ancestors are actually Irish." he explained. **

**"Oh..Well that explains the way the room is decorated." she said smiling back at him, he had a grin that melted her heart.**

**"My father died when I was two...and I was taken in and raised by Brave Bow before..." he paused "Lian, would you like to get my scrapbooks and you can show Rach some of what happened when I left the reservation." he said.**

**"Yeah" Lian cried happily as she wriggled off Rachael's lap and ran towards Roy's room...Suddenly she stopped, the turned and walked back to the table..Standing on tip toes to whisper in Rachael's ear, the young woman leaned down to hear what the little girl had to say. "Ya hafta promise not to talk about it to any one...ever." she said seriously.**

**"I promise." Rachael whispered back.**

**With that Lian was gone again.**

**"I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about this Roy." Rachael said looking at him.**

**"I'm a bit nervous myself...Look Rach the things your going to find out today...well they're pretty big. I'm not gonna lie to you, this is stuff you need to know before we can take our relationship to the next level..it''s not something all women will accept...others are attracted to it. But it's who I am and I can't change that." he sighed and reached out to take her hand in his, drawing it to his lips, then bending his head and resting his brow on it, obviously searching for the words he needed...he looked up at her again. "There's more than just photo's in a scrapbook...a whole lot more. I've been in some really dark places in my life and you deserve to know about that...But one step at a time..the scrap books first." he said as Lian returned and handed a pile of books to Rachael.**

**Lian climbed up on Rachaels lap and opened the first page of one of the books. Rachael suppressed a gasp as she looked at the picture, recognizing the subjects of the photo instantly. A young boy dressed in a red and yellow costume stood smiling, his bow in his hand, behind him stood an man, clad in green, he also held a bow, his hand resting on the boys shoulder.**

**"That's my Daddy." said Lian proudly, pointing to the smiling boy.**

**end part3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

**Roy finished reading the story he had promised Lian and closed the book. Lian climbed from her position leaning against him on the sofa into his lap and Roy wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "You make sure you be good tonight while I'm gone." he said.**

**Lian looked up at him "I'm always good for Suzie..she's fun." she said referring to the new sitter Roy had hired.**

**"Well I won't be home until after you go to bed..I hope you save me a big hug for when I see you in the morning." Roy said, hugging the little girl.**

**Lian hugged him back then looked into his eye's. "I really like Rach and Sammy." she said.**

**"Yeah I get that kiddo...Don't you worry I really like Rach and Sam as well."**

**"Rach like's you too, she told me." Lian said happily.**

**"Oh did she now...And why did she mention that? As if I couldn't guess" Roy laughed.**

**"I asked her if she liked you...And she said she liked you a whole lot and I told her Sammy would like to have you as his Dad." The little girl explained.**

**Roy chuckled again, just as the door bell rang. "That'll be Suzie." he said placing Lian on the sofa and standing up. "And you'd better remember Suzie already has a boyfriend little miss match maker." he ruffled her hair affectionately and went to answer the door.**

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**Roy smiled happily as he waited for the door to the small apartment to open. He was looking forward to spending some quality time with Rachael. He had been seeing Rachael, who turned out to be a twenty four year old nurse and single mother for a little over four months now and he had to admit he couldn't have been happier with his daughters clumsy attempt at match making..The mere thought of her made his heart race, he loved everything about her, her smile, her sense of humor and compassion, the way her eye's lit up when she saw him, even the way she made Lian laugh...He hadn't felt this way in...heck he couldn't really remember ever feeling this way. He'd loved some beautiful women in his life, but Rach..Rach was so much more than he ever thought he deserved.**

**The door opened and Roy stepped inside instantly pulling the pretty blonde haired woman into an embrace and gently kissing her. "Missed ya babe." he whispered as he pushed the door closed with his foot.**

**Rachael laughed and playfully slapped him on the arm. "You only saw me this morning." she said.**

**"Yeah I know, but that's too long to go without seeing your beautiful face." he kissed her again..He had it bad and he knew it.. the fact that he was replying to her with corney comebacks like some love sick teenager confirmed it... Hearing a squeal and feeling something grab his leg, he broke off the kiss and looked down. "Hey Sam the man.' he said happily bending to scoop up the toddler.**

**Rachael sighed and looked at the little boy. "I gave up trying to get him to go to sleep...The little tiger wouldn't give in.' she said apologetically.**

**"Guess I get to spend some time with my little buddy then." Roy replied pausing to blow a raspberry on the childs neck..The toddler giggled delightedly and attempted to copy the action on Roy's cheek. Roy laughed and turned his head to wipe the drool away on his shoulder. **

**Rachael watched happily, her heart quickening at the sight of the two of them together. Sam loved Roy and Lian and it was obvious the feeling was mutual...She walked to the living room and sat down.**

**Roy followed her and sat on the floor his back against the sofa as Sammy dragged a huge stuffed sheep from out of a toy box and plonked down on Roy's lap. "Seety." the little boy said as he held the toy up for Roy to inspect.**

**Roy looked puzzled.."Um..yeah I'm kinda out of practice when it comes to understanding toddler jargon." he said, turning to look back at Rachael who had curled up on the sofa behind him.**

**"That's Sheepy, his decided it's his favorite toy...actually we may be in for a break he's only been pulling Sheepy out when he's tired." Rachael remarked.**

**"Oh a bedtime toy..I get that, Lian's got fifty of the things and she can't sleep without every darned one of them." Roy said, as the little boy curled up on his lap and began to suck his thumb.**

**"Lian's the sweetest kid...Your so lucky to have her." Rachael said as she lay behind Roy on the sofa and wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him on the check.**

**"I know it..Everyday I look at her and can't believe how special she is..how much she's brought to my life. I honestly don't know how I coped with out her, she's my light." he said, reaching down to gently stroke the toddlers blond hair as the little boy focused sleepy blue eye's on his face.**

**Rachael reached out to run her own fingers through Roy's red hair, amused when the gentle touch caused him to shiver briefly. "Guess we're both lucky that way...I don't think I could have gone on with out Sam, he was the only reason I had the will to survive" she said Softly.**

**Roy heard the sadness in her voice, and he knew what she was talking about. She had told him everything about herself and Sam's father...how that man had treated her...how she had feared for her life while she was with him and how Sam's dad Ryan was now in and institution for the criminally insane, he had tortured and murdered a young women when Sam was just three months old. Ryan had blamed her, she had made him angry by taking their son and going into hiding. He reached up and caught her hand in his holding for a moment and giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "That man doesn't deserve to live." he said.**

**"It's over now, I never have to see him again, I can try and pretend he doesn't exist." she replied, watching the little boys desperate efforts to keep his little eye's open.**

**It was a battle the toddler soon lost and within minutes he had drifted off to sleep.**

**"I'll put him to bed if you like." Roy said as he struggled to his feet with the little boy in his arms.**

**"You hungry? I'll fix us something while your putting him down if you want?' Rachael asked.**

**"Nah already eaten." Roy said as he disappeared into the toddlers room.**

**They had gotten into the habit of spending whatever time they could together, that didn't always mean they had to have dinner, sometimes like tonight, Roy would organize a sitter so he could simply come over after dinner, just so they could be together. Rachael watched as Roy gently lay the toddler in his crib, she could scarcely believe the events of the last few months. To find someone that could accept her and her son so completely was beyond her wildest dreams.. She had told Roy all about her past, and she had expected Roy to withdraw and turn away from her, other men she had met always did, but he hadn't...In fact it had brought them closer and when Roy explained his past to her in great detail including who Lian's mother was..she knew why he understood, he may not have faced the exact situation she had faced, but he did understand and that was more than she could ever have wished for. **

**Roy gently closed the door to the Toddlers room and turned to grin at Rachael..That grin always made her weak at the knees, she smiled back. "Alone at last...Whatever shall we do with ourselves?" she jokingly asked, smiling back at him, her heart quickening as he began to walk towards her.**

**He pulled her into his arms, "I'm sure I can find a way to keep you occupied." he whispered suggestively as he brushed his lips across her cheek, his breath caressing her skin making her body flush with warmth. He slid his hand up to gently cradle the back of her neck and raised his head to look into her eye's. She tilted her head to accept his kiss as his lips sought her's...gently at first..then deeper more demanding., before breaking away to trace little kisses down her chin to the hollow of her throat, then leaning down to scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom.**

**end 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

**It was a beautiful night, and Rachael leaned back against Roy, his arm wrapped protectively around her as they sat back and watched the fountain in front of them, people milled around the square, coming and going on whatever missions they had planned in their lives. But Rachael was oblivious to them all, she had all she desired right beside her, the warmth of his body warding off the slight chill that was in the air. She looked up at him, and he kissed her brow lightly.**

**"Penny for your thoughts?" he whispered.**

**She sighed, "Just wondering how Cheshire could have given you up so easily." she murmured.**

**He managed a small chuckle, "She didn't, I walked away from her." he said.**

**Rachael looked at him carefully, looking for signs of regret, and seeing none. "Why?"**

**"To protect her. I was working for the government, my being with her put her at risk...So I left..Of course I didn't know she was pregnant with my child, if I had?..." He stopped and thought for a moment. " No..I guess I still would have eventually taken Lian and left. We didn't belong in Jade's world." he looked into her eye's closely.**

**"Did you love her?" she asked.**

**He looked away again. "Your asking the tough ones tonight huh?...I thought I did, at the time..I've learned a lot about myself since then..It wasn't love, I know that now."**

**"Sometimes when we feel unloved and unwanted...we see love that isn't truly there..we confuse other emotions for love..lust, desire, need...I thought Ryan loved me, but I know he just wanted to control me..to own me, I wasn't a person to him, I was a thing an object that belonged to him. He was my first boyfriend, my father never paid any attention to me and he'd died a few years before I met Ryan, and my mother died when I was five...I guess I felt alone, I didn't belong anywhere and nobody wanted me..but Ryan did." she sat up and looked into his eye's, they sparkled with understanding.**

**"I guess I felt the same way, I never felt I belonged anywhere, I had no family..I was alone in the world. Jade made me feel wanted, like I had finally found somewhere I belonged...I was looking for something that wasn't there...Yeah she loved me in her own way...and she loved Lian as well, but Jade uses the people she loves like pawns..That's why she kept Lian from me, why I had to fight to get her back...She used her to punish me." he stopped talking and continued to gaze into her eye's, knowing the she understood more deeply than anyone else in his life ever could.. He knew he had finally found what he had been searching for all his life. "I love you." he murmured as he drew her close.**

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**Roy lay behind Rachael the next morning, propping his head up high on the pillows so he could watch her sleep, savoring the sight of her and wishing they could stay this way forever but knowing Sam would soon wake and he himself would need to return home to Lian. He had never met anyone like the beautiful woman he now lay with, there was something about her..something that made being with her feel right.He could spend the rest of his life with this woman, he had no doubt about that, he did worry though, after all she had been through with Sam's father maybe being involved with him would make her vulnerable, he had no idea how his daughters mother would react, and he didn't wish to find that out, but he knew in his heart that this was his chance..a chance he may never have again...**

**Rachael stirred, than rolled over to look into Roy's eyes.**

**"Hey sleepy head." he said.**

**She smiled contentedly, "You been awake long?" she asked sleepily.**

**He kissed her on the head gently. "A little while...just watching you..and thinking." he replied as he snuggled down in the bed and pulled her into his arms.**

**She rolled over and rested her head on his chest enjoying the warm safe feeling that being close to him gave her. "Thinking about what?" she asked softly.**

**Roy remained quiet for a moment, long enough for her to turn her head and look at him concerned.**

**He focused intensely on her eye's "Move in with me?" he whispered.**

**"Pardon?" she asked surprised.**

**"Move in with me...I want us to be together all the time, not just when there's a sitter available." He said again.**

**Rachael was stunned into silence for a moment. "I...We..we have to think about the children..what if you realize later this isn't what you want..What will happen then..It would be devastating for Lian." she finally managed to say.**

**Roy looked at her for a moment "I've never been so sure about anything in my life as I am about us, you, me, Sam and Lian...I'm committed to making this work." he whispered looking at her with pleading eye's.**

**"How committed?" Rachael asked softly.**

**Roy continued to focus his brilliant green eyes on her blue ones. "Committed enough to ask you to marry me." he whispered, shocking himself with his reply.**

**Rachael gasped slightly as his words hit her."I...It...But it's so soon." she stammered.**

**Roy paused absorbing the importance of what he had just asked...He'd thought about it..of course he had, a lot in fact. He just hadn't expected to ask that question just yet..his mouth as usual had moved faster than his brain. What if he had scared her off...what if she said no... After a moment of panic a strange calm came over him. No, his mouth had only expressed what he felt in his heart was right. "Do you feel the way I feel?" he asked softly.**

**She stared into his sparkling green eye's, mesmerized by the emotions that flashed in them, they were eye's that melted her soul and reached into her heart...She knew from the first moment she had looked into them that this man was someone she could trust...someone who would never willingly let her down..Her heart raced as she reached up to gently run her hand down the side of his face drawing his lips down to hers, "Yes." she whispered.**

**end of 5**


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6**

**Dick waited patiently for the phone to be picked up, smiling broadly when a familiar little voice answered. "Hello short stuff..." he started, only to have to move the phone away from his ear at the delighted squeal on the other end.**

**"Uncle Dick." Lian squealed happily.**

**"Hi sweetheart, it's good to hear your pretty little voice." He said still smiling. They hadn't spoken in what seemed like months, sometimes life just got so hectic that time flew by without him realizing it.**

**"I miss you Uncle Dick..you haven't called me in a long time."**

**"I know honey, I've been very busy, but Christmas will be here in a few weeks and we can all catch up then." he reassured.**

**Lian's voice lit up at the thought of Christmas, "Will Uncle Wally be there? And Aunty Donna and Uncle Garth?." she asked enthusiastically.**

**"Well.. they're all really busy at the moment, but I'm sure they'll find time to come, even if it's only for a little while." Dick said, all the other Titans were busy with work or their own lives, their annual get together might not be the same this year, but he knew they would all make an effort to spend at least some time together, they were like family and it was important to them all that they keep the tradition going.**

**"So can I talk to your Dad?" Dick asked.**

**"Yeah..but he's just with Sammy..He had ta have a bath cause he spilt chocklit milk all over himself."**

**Dick frowned, trying to puzzle the little girls statement out...Who was Sammy? And how did Roy manage to spill chocolate milk all over himself?**

**"Daaaady...Uncle Dick's on the phone." Lian yelled before turning back to speak to Dick again..."Sammy pulled my hair." **

**"Did she?...Well that wasn't very nice...How did your Dad manage to spill milk on himself?" Dick asked attempting to subtlety gain information.**

**Lian giggled. "Sammy's a boy Uncle Dick...Rach said he was just being a brat, cause he's still a baby...And Daddy didn't spill the milk Sammy did" **

**Giving up on the subtle approach Dick asked. "So who's Rach?..and why is your Dad looking after Sammy?" **

**"Rach lives here..but she had ta work today and Daddy has ta look after Sammy." Lian stated matter of factly.**

**Before Dick could ask any further question's Roy's voice came over the phone."Hey buddy." he said.**

**"Daaady I never even got to say goodbye." Lian whined.**

**"Later baby." Roy replied." So man, what ya been up to? I haven't heard from you in ages."**

**"The question's not what have I been up to, but what have you been up to?...Who's Rach?" Dick asked.**

**"Rach...Rachael?...She's.." **

**"Daaad..he's climbing the bookshelf." **

**"Hang on Dick." Roy said putting the phone down and walking off. Returning a few minutes later.**

**"Yeah, sorry bout that, Sam's just at the age where they get into every...Hold still tiger..Oww let go." a series of computerized tones sounded as the buttons on the phone where pushed, followed by a clatter as it was dropped.**

**Dick cocked one eyebrow as he sat patiently listening to the noises on the other end, he heard a toddler squeal, followed by Roy's voice.**

**"Lian tell uncle Dick I'll talk to him in a minute..."**

**Lian's sweet little voice came on line "Daddy's putting a video on for Sammy...and Sammy pulled Daddy's hair while he was holding him, and he knocked the phone on the floor and Daddy couldn't catch it." she said explaining the situation to Dick.**

**Taking advantage of having Lian on the phone Dick asked."So Rach lives with you guys hey?...Is she a friend of your Dad's?"**

**"Yeah, Daddy like's her a lot..." Lian cut off to call out to her father "Daddy not Barney that's a baby show!"**

**"Well he's a baby...you can watch something after." Roy replied.**

**"Here's Daddy." Lian said in a bored voice.**

**"Yeah..back again..hang on I'll just hand this kid a sipper cup and we'll be right." Roy said putting the phone down again.**

**"Right all done...Man I forgot how much work toddlers are." Roy said when he returned.**

**"Ok spill man...who's Rach?" Dick asked again.**

**"Rach is...Rach is Sam's Mom." Roy stammered.**

**"And why does Rach live with you guy's?" Dick pressed.**

**"Well..Lian introduced us and...well we've been seeing each other for a while now." **

**"Lian introduced you?...Your kid found you a woman." Dick laughed.**

**"Shut up man...it kinda just happened is all."**

**"So..how serious is this, obviously if she's moved in..." Dick's words were cut off by Lian's scream.**

**"Daaady now he's spilled juice all over me."**

**"Awww..Look man I gotta go, I'll call you later ok." Roy said.**

**"Ok..but we haven't finished with this discussion yet."**

**"Yeah, yeah later Dude." Roy replied as he hung up the phone.**

**Dick sighed, that had to be the most disjointed conversation he'd had with Roy in a long time. He still had questions he had wanted to ask, but that would have to wait now. Obviously whoever this woman was, Roy was serious about her, the fact that she was living with the archer more than proved that, Roy had always loved the ladies but he never introduced them to Lian..not unless he was deadly serious. Dick smiled thoughtfully, could his friend have actually found someone he was willing to give up his flirtatious ways for. It certainly appeared that he had.**

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**"Why didn't you just tell him?" Rachael asked as she snuggled up against him in bed later that night.**

**Roy brushed his cheek against the top of her head, enjoying the silky feeling of her hair on his skin. "I never really had the chance...Besides I'm still not sure if I should yet." he replied.**

**Rachael propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. "It's been a month...Don't you think it's time?..I know your worried about Jade finding out, but really, if she loves her daughter she won't object to having someone else in Lian's life that loves her as much as she does...and I do love her Roy, just as much as I love Sam."**

**"I know you do...I see it in your eye's, and Lian feels the same...But I don't know...maybe I should try and track Jade down and tell her myself before I tell any one else..That way I can gage her reaction personally..." Roy said as he gently ran his fingers through her hair, watching as the blonde locks slipped through them and cascaded around her face.**

**Rachaels eye's widened in alarm "No...I mean she's dangerous...You can't face her alone even if you do choose to tell her." she paused for a minute before continuing "Roy...I haven't even met any of your friends and family..I know you've told me about them and I know they have secrets to protect...but I have to wonder if there's not more to why your so reluctant to tell them."**

**Roy frowned. "More to it?...What do you mean?" he asked looking into her eye's.**

**"I don't know..I guess I worry a little that...well a lot of the other women in your life have had some link to the hero community..I'm not like that." she said softly.**

**Roy suddenly realized what she was saying "Are you thinking I'm keeping this to myself because I'm worried about what they'll all think, because your not one of them?" he asked shocked, that thought hadn't even crossed his mind, he was genuinely startled to think she felt that. He flipped her over onto her back and propped himself up to stare into her face, "No way..that isn't it.."**

**"Well what then..Roy we've been married a month and I have yet to even meet the man that raised you...Wouldn't that seem odd to you if you were in my position?" she asked, her voice breaking with emotion.**

**Roy stared at her, thinking for a minute before speaking. "Ollie and I...well we can go six months sometimes without seeing each other..." He broke off sighing, he was simply finding excuses, the fact was he was scared, a feeling he would never want to admit to. If his enemies found out ...If Cheshire found out?... It was a hard enough job keeping Lian safe and now he had Rachael and Sam to protect as well, how could he protect them all?... A new thought struck him.. He couldn't if his enemies really went after them, not by himself, he'd been going about this all wrong, instead of keeping this a secret he needed share it...**

**"You're right..I know you are, I just wanted to protect you that's all..It's time to tell them, I'll make some calls tomorrow night." he said.**

**end 6**


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

**"Yeah..yeah I'd appreciate that thanks..No..I'll wait a bit longer then I'll call them..Thanks." Roy hung up the phone. It was the third time in the last two hours he had called the clinic were Rachael worked as a nurse...hoping she had gone back there for some reason. She had been called in early that morning for a short shift to replace another nurse who had gone home sick, Rachael worked part time three days a week at the clinic, but if needed they would call her in at other times. It was now nearly 9pm, and Roy had discovered Rachael had left the clinic at two in the afternoon, she normally came straight home, but even so he hadn't really started to worry until dinner time.**

**He walked to the bedroom door and looked in on the two children sleeping peacefully. There was no way Rachael would miss out on the chance to spend time with the kids before bed. He felt sick and his face flushed warm with worry, something wasn't right, he could feel it and years of vigilante work as Arsenal had taught him his gut instinct should be listened to.**

**He walked into the living room and began to pace back and forth. He didn't know what else he could do, he'd rung the Police but even before he'd dialed their number he knew they wouldn't help, Rachael hadn't been missing long enough for them to be concerned yet. He'd tried to call a sitter so he could go looking, but no one was available on such short notice, and even if he had found one, looking for one woman in this city would be an impossible task.**

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**After a sleepless night in which Roy had repeatedly called every hospital and clinic he could find listed. He was able to talk Suzie into canceling her plans and coming over to watch the children. As soon as they were settled watching a video he left.**

**His first stop was the clinic and he spoke to as many of Rachael's co workers as he could, none of them had seen her and no one had noticed her behaving differently in any way. Roy began to ask around at nearby stores and office buildings, showing a photo that he had of Rachael. No matter where he went the answer was always the same, and as the morning turned into afternoon the knot in his stomach began to tighten.**

**Eventually, as darkness set in, he had to give up and return home. Grateful that Suzie had given the children their dinner bathed them and tucked them into bed by the time he got home.**

**After he had paid her, Suzie left and Roy was left alone to battle his emotions and fears as they increased with every passing minute. He searched through memories of conversations he had shared with Rachael..He knew she had said she had no family, her father had died four years earlier and her mother when she was five...There was no where she would have gone, the only friends that Roy knew she had were her colleagues at work and he had already spoken to them.**

**He ran his fingers through his hair, noting vaguely that he was trembling...The fact that he hadn't eaten in twenty four hours catching up with him, his stomach was too knotted to accept food, so he opened the fridge and pulled out a can of Zesti, hoping the sugar in the drink would help in some way.**

**He glanced at the phone..He had promised Rachael he would call Dick last night, but he hadn't done it, not when Rachael hadn't come home, he'd had other things on his mind. Coming to a sudden decision he reached out and picked the phone up.**

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**Dick was talking to Bruce when his phone rang..They had been almost ready to suit up and leave for their 'night jobs' and although Bruce usually worked in Gotham, he had been consulting Dick on a case that had spilled over from Gotham into Bludhaven and the two of them had organized to meet and wrap the case up together that night.**

**Bruce sat down to wait as Dick answered the phone.**

**"Grayson spea..."**

**"Dick"**

**"Roy?" Dick asked instantly alerted to a problem by the tone of the archer's voice.**

**"Look I know your busy man...but I really need some help here..my detective skills are up to shit." **

**"Help?..On a case?"**

**"Well kinda man...It's Rach..she's gone."**

**"Rach..this is the Rachael we were talking about the other day?"**

**"Yeah, she's gone man and I can't find her..I've looked every where and she's just vanished."**

**Dick sighed, he could hear from Roy's tone that his friend was clearly distressed...Breakups were rarely amiable, and Roy obviously had fallen deeply for this woman. "I'm really sorry Roy...I don't know what to say..Did the two of you get into an argument or something?..Did she say why she left?"**

**There was silence for a moment as Roy processed Dicks words. "No, no man..You got it all wrong, she didn't walk out on me...She...She just never came home from work yesterday."**

**Dick walked over and sat in the armchair opposite Bruce, this could be a long conversation and as much as he wanted to be there for Roy, this was a really bad time. "Roy... maybe I can come over tomorrow and we can throw back a few beers and talk about it..These things have a way of looking brighter once you give it time..Anyway she might come back, you guy's obviously had a good thing going..." Dick stopped as Roy cut in angrily.**

**"Your not freakin listening to me man...She didn't leave me, she wouldn't have..Somethings happened to her I know it."**

**Dick sighed again, this wasn't going to be easy to handle without Roy getting really pissed with him. "How long have you known this woman Roy?"**

**"Five months...Whats that got to do with anything?"**

**"Well five months isn't a long time to really get to know someone, that's all."**

**The low growl that came from the other end of the line caught Dick off guard. "I want you to fuckin listen to me...She did not walk out on me, something bad has gone down here and I'm asking for your help...I know she wouldn't leave me, I know her better than you think...We made a commitment to be there for one another..That's not a commitment she would break."**

**"Roy I...What sort of a commitment?"**

**There was silence at the other end for a moment.."She wouldn't have walked out on me man...she wouldn't have left Sam behind."**

**"She left her kid there?" Dick paused, then realizing Roy had avoided his previous question he asked it again. "Roy what sort of commitment are you talking about...because man if it's just that she's moved in with you...well not everyone takes that as seriously as you or I would."**

**"We've been married for over a month."**

**"Mar...You've gotta be kidding me..No way."**

**Bruce looked quizzically at Dick, the conversation seemed to be taking on an interesting twist.**

**"I'm not joking...Look Dick..I'm begging ya man will ya help me or not?"**

**"Ok, ok...Look we've really got to talk...I have some things to finish up here and I'll head over your way in a couple of hours." Dick hung up, then sighed, how many times was his archer friend going to keep impulsively leaping headlong into life changing decisions...This one was the worst since...Well it was the biggest in a long time put it that way.**

**end 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 7**

**Batman stood with his arms forded across his chest, watching as the red haired archer paced back and forth explaining the events that had occurred in the past few months of his life. The young man never had learned to think things through and the description of his recent activities only confirmed that thought.**

**"Ollie never mentioned that you were getting married when I spoke to him last week." Batman said.**

**"You spoke to Ollie last week?... I tried calling him but as usual he hasn't rung back yet..." Roy broke off and ran a shaky hand through his hair.**

**"When did you last eat or sleep?" Dick asked.**

**Roy shrugged. "Look Ollie wouldn't have mentioned anything because he doesn't know...no one does..or did, until now." he said.**

**"You didn't even tell Ollie?...Shit Roy what were you thinking. I thought you and Ollie had patched things up. Why would you want to keep something this big to yourself?" Nightwing asked, not even attempting to disguise the surprise in his voice. **

**Roy sighed and walked over and sat down on the sofa reaching up to rub the back of his neck with his hand.**

**"This isn't another Cheshire incident is it?" asked Batman, anything was possible with the fiery young man sitting in front of him, the boy had a taste for strong, dangerous women.**

**Roy looked startled, "Excuse me?"**

**"This woman doesn't have certain...issues with the justice system that you don't wish to disclose?" Batman asked.**

**Roy stared at Batman for a moment, anger turning his face red, before turning to Nightwing, "What the hell did you bring him here for?" he snapped.**

**"Hey, you wanted help didn't you?... Well don't go getting pissy when the questions get hard." Nightwing said, before adding gently..."Look Roy I know you stressed, but it's a genuine question that needs answering." **

**Roy stood up again and walked over to Lian's bedroom door, opening it carefully to check on the two children inside, then closing it softly before turning to face the two hero's. "Look Rach isn't any kinda super villain..she isn't any kinda super anything, she's a normal human woman and marrying me brings her into a world that's...not so normal. I admit I jumped in an asked her to marry me before I thought things through properly...But I'd do it again in a heartbeat cause I love her man...After we got married it occurred to me that Cheshire might not react the way I'd like once she finds out there's another woman playing the Mommy role for Lian...I've got a lot to lose here..I just needed time to think it out, I woulda told everyone eventually."**

**"Is it possible Cheshire may already know?" Batman asked.**

**"I've thought about that don't worry...Look it's possible, if Cheshire's involved I'm not stupid enough to think I can do this on my own...That's why I called Dick." Roy said as he flopped down in the sofa.**

**Nightwing looked at the archers pale face, the dark rings around his face making it obvious that he hadn't slept in a long time...and the tremor in his friends hands made him doubtful he'd eaten any thing in an equally as long. "Ok we're going to have to do some work on this so we're going to need details...Photo's, of friends and family, addresses she frequents anything you can think of...But before we do that your going to sit there and eat something before your of no use to anyone." he said as he stood up and headed to the kitchen.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**She heard his footsteps as he returned, whimpering she scooted back into the corner shaking, not knowing what he planned to do this time. The cold brick wall was rough against her bare skin. He opened the door and although she was blindfolded, some of the light that entered through the open door way filtered through the fabric that was bound tightly over her eyes, and she could make out his dark shape as he approached her. He grabbed her by the hair, pulling her roughly to her feet, she stumbled towards the wall and was unable to stop herself from hitting it because her hands were tied behind her back. Her head hit the hall hard and she stifled a cry.**

**"I'm gonna ask you again bitch, WHERE IS HE?" he bellowed.**

**I took all her effort not to flinch as he yelled. She would never tell him what he wanted to know, no matter what he did to her, she would die first.**

**He backhanded her across the face and she fell, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth, then crying out as he kicked her in the side.**

**He pulled her to her feet again. "You'll tell me everything I want to know by the time I've finished with you." he growled, his face so close to hers that she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.**

**She felt his hands close around her throat, his thumbs pushing into the hollow of her neck...She struggled uselessly against his grip, and just as darkness was about to claim her, he released her, letting her fall to the floor gasping. **

**Then she felt him leave, the silence he left behind broken only by her ragged breathing...She could not even be relieved that he was gone...all she could think about was that he would be back and this would all start all over again. She crawled on her knees to where she thought the corner of the room was, huddling against the wall "R...Roy" she whispered, finally allowing herself to give way to the sobbing that had threatened to erupt earlier.**

**end of 7**


	9. Chapter 9

**"Daddy, when is Rach coming back?" Lian asked sleepily, the next night as Roy tucked her into bed.**

**"I'm not sure honey...Soon I hope." Roy frowned, he still had not told Lian that Rachael was missing, only that she had gone away for a little while thankfully the little girl had easily accepted that, she was used to different people in her life going away for different lengths of time most of them were in the hero line of work and were often called away on cases they were following.**

**"I miss Rach." Lian whispered as she became sleepier.**

**"I do to sweetheart." Roy replied as he gently stroked Lian's dark hair.**

**"I picked you a good Mommy didn't I?" Lian whispered, a smile playing on her lips.**

**"You picked the best Mommy." Roy replied, watching as the little girls eye's finally fluttered closed. He sat on the edge of her bed watching her sleep, as he often did when he felt stressed or worried, it always made him relax...A crash from outside broke the moment, and Roy rose and headed towards the door, he didn't hurry, he knew what the noise would be, Sam was in his play pen in the living room and the crash was just his way of getting attention by throwing one of his toy trucks over the side.**

**"Mom mom mom." the little boy chorused.**

**"Hey Sammy my boy..." Roy said as he reached in and picked the toddler up.**

**"Da." Sam replied.**

**Roy looked shocked for a moment, not sure if he had heard right.**

**"Da da." the little boy repeated as he wriggled in Roy's arms.**

**For the first time in days Roy smiled, Sam had a few words in his vocabulary now, but Dad wasn't one of them..Until now. Hearing the sound of a ****key in the door, he quickly walked towards it, still smiling as Dick opened it and walked in a bag of take out food in one arm.**

**"I brought Chinese food, because I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have eaten since I made you eat this morn..." Dick noticed the smile on Roy's face. "What?"**

**"He called me Dad!" Roy replied.**

**"What...were you expecting him to call you Mister Harper, maybe?" Dick joked.**

**"No, no..I just..Well I don't know what I was expecting." Roy shrugged, as he lowered the still squirming toddler to the floor.**

**"Well you've been the only man in the kids life for the last five or six months, he hears Lian call you Dad, of course he's gonna call you Dad." Dick said as he began to unpack the bag onto the coffee table.**

**"Yeah.. well doesn't matter how much your detective mind wants to break it down into facts..It's still a kick." Roy said as he retrieved a couple of forks and a bowl and spoon from the kitchen "You want a plate?" he asked.**

**"Nah..just eat from the carton." Dick said.."You got beer?" he asked.**

**"Yeah." Roy opened the fridge and pulled out a beer and a can of Zesti, holding both in one hand, he walked over and placed them on the coffee table along with the forks, spoon and bowl.**

**Dick reached across and grabbed the can of Zesti and headed back towards the fridge.**

**"Hey that was for me." Roy said indignantly.**

**"You don't need the caffeine man, your eye's are hanging out of your head as it is." Dick replied as he swapped the Zesti for a beer.**

**"I can't sleep." Roy mumbled.**

**"Not if you drink that shit you won't." Dick said as he sat in the sofa next to Roy.., who was busy, chopping noodles he had placed in the bowl up into smaller pieces with the side of the spoon.**

**Sam stood holding onto the side of the sofa, bouncing up and down in anticipation as he watched Roy readying the noodles for him to eat.**

**"So spill man...Anything yet?" Roy asked as he offered a spoonful of the chopped noodles to the little boy, who eagerly ate them.**

**"Bruce has got the footage from the security camera's in and around the clinic..he's going through them now, other than that we don't have a lot to go on, he wants to know a bit more about this ex boyfriend of hers though, anything at all you can remember..." Dick stopped as Roy cut in.**

**"I toldja everything I know,in all honesty it's a subject I didn't want to pry into too much, I've just let her open up and tell me things when she was ready, so all I really know is his name is Ryan and he's locked up." Roy said.**

**"Did she mention what prison he's in?" Dick asked.**

**"Not a standard prison...one for the criminally insane, that's all I know." Roy spooned another scoop of noodles into Sam's mouth and sighed.**

**"Well that's actually a bigger help than you think...It narrows the places to look down dramatically, if we can find this guy, we might be able to get some more answers there, he might know some information about her past that you..." Dick stopped as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." he said, standing to go to the door.**

**"Don't know who the hell that'd be at this time of the night." Roy mumbled.**

**Dick opened the door slightly. "It's Ollie!" he said, opening the door further.**

**Oliver Queen walked in the door and dropped the bag he was carrying on the floor to one side of the doorway.**

**Roy stood quickly."Oliie?...What the hell?" **

**"Hey kid...The Bat called me, told me to return your call...I figured it had ta be something big if he was calling me on the JLA communicator..So..." Ollie's voice trailed off as Sam toddled around to hang onto Roy's leg.**

**The little boy looked up, and Roy automatically reached down to pick him up. Sam leaned his head against Roy's shoulder. "Da." he said.**

**Ollie stared at the toddler in his ex wards arms.."Shit kid, don't ya ever learn your lesson." he snapped.**


	10. Chapter 10

**part 10**

**Dick sat back and sighed deeply, now that he'd finally managed to get both the archers to stopping yelling at each other, he just needed to get them to start talking again. Roy had disappeared into his bedroom after Dick suggested that yelling in front of Sam might not be the best thing to do, and Ollie sat on the sofa looking pissed off.**

**"You know, you really ought to check things out a bit before jumping to conclusions." Dick said mildly.**

**"What other friggin conclusion is there to jump to...I mean the kid called him Dad for crying out loud!" Ollie snapped.**

**"It's not his kid." Dick replied.**

**Ollie looked at him.."You expect me to believe he's just babysitting some kid that calls him Dad?...Look at this place." Ollie said indicating the high chair in the kitchen and play pen in the living room.**

**"No..he's not babysitting, Sam lives here." Dick said.**

**Ollie looked puzzled, but the anger in his eye's had faded slightly.."What? He adopted the kid or something?"**

**"No..no..Look, I've said more than I should, it's up to Roy to tell you the rest himself..Just do me a favour, you mightn't like what he tells you but just try and keep calm...he really needs support right now, there's a lot gone down in his life over the last few months, some of it will come as a shock..well it did for me anyway...Just listen to him without losing it will ya?" Dick asked.**

**Ollie ran a hand through his hair..."Ok kid...I'm gonna try but I can't guarentee it. Roy has a penchant for dropping bombshells, and I get the feeling this is gonna be one of those times." he sighed, before continuing."Guess nothing can be as bad as finding out he was an addict though." he added.**

**"Yeah well if you keep that in mind, then everything else will seem minor in comparison." Dick replied, hopeing the older man would remember that piece of advice.**

**Roy walked out of his room, Sam now asleep in his arms and disappeared into Lian's room to put the toddler in his crib, before returning to the living room and quietly closing the door.**

**"Coffee all round?" Dick asked, heading for the kitchen as the other two men nodded their agreement.**

**Ollie finally took the time to look at Roy, taking in his haggard appearance. 'You look like hell kid." he said, softly.**

**Roy nodded and walked over to sit in the armchair facing Ollie.."Starting to feel like hell too." he mumbled..the lack of sleep finally beginning to get through to him.**

**"Eat!" Dick called from the kitchen.**

**Roy reached over and picked up a fork and a carton of food... Sighing, he leaned back in the chair. "I don't know where to start." he said.**

**Ollie accepted the coffee Dick held out to him. "From the beginning..that's always the best place to start Kiddo." he replied.**

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**The door opened, and she stiffened, preparing for the worst. His footsteps came closer and she braced herself, not knowing what he intended to do. He grabbed at her hair and pulled her over to him...And began to take off the blind fold he had tied tightly over her eye's, the fabric dropped to the ground, and she blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. Then surprisingly he began to untie her wrists...She rubbed them hard, trying to get the circulation going again.**

**"Don't fucken try anything or I'll kill you..you know I will." he growled menacingly, before throwing some clothes at her. "Get dressed." he ordered.**

**Shaking, she complied with his orders, she knew she couldn't fight him, he was much stronger than she was and the lack of food or water in the last couple of days combined with repeated beatings had left her too weak to even try.**

**"W..where are you taking me?" she whispered hoarsley.**

**"Home...Once we get there you'll tell me where he is." he stated.**

**She knew he wasn't talking about taking her home to Roy...he didn't know where she had lived, he didn't know about Roy, and she had to keep it that way. **

**She finished dressing and he moved towards her, picking up the blindfold and tieing it back over her eye's, before shoving her on to the ground and putting his knee in her back as he tied her hands again.**

**Dragging her to her feet he pulled her out the door.**

**She stumbled along, trying desperately to stay upright as he dragged he along.**

**Soon she heard another door open, and then, another sound, a popping noise she recognized it as the trunk of a car being opened. Her shoved her roughly causing her to fall forward, half into the trunk, then grabbed her legs and forced her the rest of the way into the vehicle before slamming the trunk closed.**

**Alone in the darkness she began to shake uncontrollably. The car started and began to move. She felt her tears threaten but she refused to cry...not anymore, whatever lay ahead she would face it with as much dignity as she could muster, he had invaded her life, her body, he had beaten and abused her, he had taken away the peace and security she had in her life..but he would not take away her pride.**

**end 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**Part 11**

**Dick had to admit he was impressed. Ollie had actually listened to Roy without interruption, then he sat quietly for a few moments thinking, before suggesting the younger archer go and get some sleep. And even more surprisingly after a couple of minor protestations, Roy had complied. "You handled that well." he finally commented when Roy's bedroom door closed behind the young man.**

**"Yeah, well if there's one thing I've learned, going toe to toe with that kid when he's tired is just asking for trouble. I haven't said all I have to say about the situation yet, but one look at him and I could see that now isn't the time to raise hell...though he's gonna get his ass kicked when this is sorted out." Ollie said gruffly.**

**"Well I wouldn't be too hard on him, he had some valid reasons for keeping quiet. Even though I might not totally agree with him on the way he handled things, I can understand he needed time to think things through, I just wish he done the thinking before he married the woman." Dick said.**

**Ollie sat back in the sofa, and to Dicks surprise he actually smiled. "Married?...The words Roy and married just don't sound right in the same sentence...Who'da thought it. She must be one hell of a woman!" he said.**

**"Yeah, that's pretty obvious, I've never seen him like this, not even with Donna or Cheshire. This woman might be just what he needs. Anyway, I've got to take off..I take it your staying around for a while?" Dick said nodding towards the bag Ollie had dropped near the door earlier.**

**"I was originally just gonna stay over night..Kinda felt guilty about not keeping in touch with the kid for the last couple of months...I've been working a case that led me to Russia for a good while and I've only been back a couple of weeks...Anyway when Bats got in touch with me I figured Roy had some big shit going down or that pointy eared freak wouldn't of bothered..so here I am...I'll stay as long as it takes to straighten this mess out." Ollie said.**

**"Well he needs someone here, he's his own worst enemy, he doesn't eat or sleep unless he's practically forced to, that's why I came by tonight." Dick said as he headed out the door. **

**"Hey short pants." **

**"Yeah?"**

**"Thanks for watching my boy's back...again."**

**Dick smiled. "That's what friends are for." he replied as he closed the door behind him.**

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**Rachael heard him opening the trunk, her ears straining for any familiar sounds, anything that might indicate where they were, but there wasn't anything. He lifted her out of the trunk and grabbed her upper arm and dragged her along. He stopped and opened another door and pulled her into a room, before shoving her hard causing her to stumble and fall, then she heard his footsteps as he retreated.**

**Not long after he returned, untieing her hands he pushed something into them..a cup. "Drink.' he said softly.**

**The change in the tone of his voice surprised her and she did as he ordered, thirstily gulping the drink down.**

**"We're home now, you always loved this place." he said as he untied her blindfold.**

**Blinking and rubbing her eyes to clear them, she tried to focus her vision, after a few moments it cleared, and she instantly recognized where she was. "Here?..Why did you bring me here?" she asked shocked.**

**"Because I love you..I'd do anything for you..You know that." he said.**

**"But how?..Other people live here now."**

**"Not any more. " he said indicating she should look behind her.**

**She slowly turned around..Then gasped, placing her hand over her mouth and gagging, the sight was horrific and although she wanted to turn and run the horror made her freeze, she wanted to shut her eye's and block out the sight, but they wouldn't respond.**

**"I did this for you, so you would know how much I love you."**

**When she was finally able to move, she turned and ran to a corner and vomited, her stomach heaving repeatedly until it hurt. Eventually she was able to look up at him. "YOUR INSANE RYAN...HOW COULD YOU DO THAT..YOU DON..."**

**He backhanded her across the face sending her sprawling on the floor. "YOU FUCKING UNGRATEFULL BITCH...I DID THIS FOR YOU." he screamed. Grabbing her arm he twisted it painfully behind her back forcing her to her feet and pushing her out of the room and through the house. He reached the door to the basement, and opened it throwing her in.**

**She fell, tumbling down the stairs, agony ripping through her body as she struck stair after stair until she finally reached the bottom. She whimpered, an image of the dismembered woman and child that she had been forced to look at was the last thing on her mind as darkness claimed her.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Ollie felt the presence before it spoke, he jumped and sat bolt upright on the sofa as the living room light was turned on. Blinking rapidly as his eye's adjusted to the light, he looked at the two dark clad figures that stood nearby. "Don't you ever friggin knock you pointy eared imbecile." he snapped.**

**"Get Harper up." Batman growled.**

**"What?..You find something?" Ollie asked as he quickly walked towards Roy's bedroom.**

**"I wouldn't be here if I didn't..Now get the boy up." **

**Ollie reached out to opened Roy's door, jumping involuntarily as it was pulled opened before he touched it, and Roy walked out.**

**"What did you find?" Roy asked eagerly.**

**"I thought you were supposed to be sleeping." Ollie said.**

**"I was...What did you find?" he asked again.**

**"We ran a check on the ex boyfriend...it turns out his name is Ryan Wilson, apparently he escaped one week ago." Batman stated.**

**Roy's face went pale. "Shit" Roy ran back into his room, pulling off his shirt as he went, preparing to change into his costume.**

**"Roy" Nightwing called out.."Look man this is pretty close to home..Maybe Batman and I should handle it."**

**"Like fuckin hell." Roy's voice came from around the corner of his room.**

**A few moments later he emerged fully dressed and carrying a couple of guns, he sat on the sofa and began to load the fire arms.**

**"Roy..." Nightwing began.**

**"No Dick...No way..Do you know what this monster is capable of? Do you know what he did?" Roy yelled.**

**"Look son, short pants is right, you're not in the right frame of mind to be anywhere near this, I'll go, besides someones gonna hafta stay with the rug rats." Ollie said.**

**"You can stay Ollie...Look this guy not only beat the shit out of her when she was with him, but he tortured and murdered some poor girl as some sort of warped punishment because she cleared out on him, and if she had of stayed he woulda done the same to her and Sam...He's psycho Ollie..she doesn't stand a chance with this bastard unless we move fast." **

**"I understand kid, but you can't go into this..."**

**"What would you do Ollie? If this was the woman you loved..what would you do if some sick animal had her? Answer me that." Roy pleaded, cutting Ollie's words off.**

**Ollie stood watching the red head for a moment before responding. "Just be careful son...You don't wanna lose control and do something you'll later regret." then turning to Batman he said. "Watch his back. " **

**Batman nodded and all three hero's moved to leave. Leaving Ollie to watch them go.**

**end 11**


	12. Chapter 12

**part 12**

**The three hero's paused on a nearby rooftop to discuss the plan of attack..The had to find Ryan first, and that wouldn't be easily done.**

**"We've listed all the known locations he frequented before his incarceration... Everything we could find, including the warehouse he killed his victim at and his last known residential address." Batman said.**

**"So what?..We're just gonna go knocking on doors at this time of night asking if the new tenants have seen any warped psychopathic murderous weirdo's lurking nearby?" Arsenal asked sarcastically.**

**"Of course not...But if he's at one of these locations we need to check them out under the cover of darkness first." Batman growled.**

**"We''ll do a check tonight...then if we don't find anything, we'll go back tomorrow and asked questions to whoever is living there, There's eight prime targets that need to be checked, we'll get them done tonight then we'll work out what our next move is once that's done..We're only just beginning Roy, these things take a bit of time..you know that." Nightwing said.**

**"Yeah I know...I know. We mightn't have much time, that's all." Arsenal mumbled as he stared at the ground.**

**Nightwing reached out a hand to give the archers shoulder a reassuring squeeze.**

**"Then we had better get moving, Nightwing you and Arsenal take the first four target areas on the list, and I'll take the other four." Batman said.**

**"Hey..shouldn't we all split up? We'd cover the area's quicker that way." Arsenal said.**

**"Quicker is not necessarily safer." Batman said as he disappeared over the side of the building and into the darkness.**

**"Asshole." Roy spat. "What? Does he think I need a freakin babysitter...Doesn't he think I'm capable of pulling my weight?" Arsenal snapped at Nightwing. **

**"You know it's not about that Roy...He's doing exactly what he told Ollie he would..watching your back. You mightn't like it but it's the way it's gotta be...your too close to this case and you know as well as I do that that can pose dangers, not just to yourself, but to Rachael as well..and I know you well enough to know that you don't want that to happen."**

**Arsenal stood silently for a moment..He didn't like it, but he would accept it. "Let's just get the hell out of here, and get this show on the road." he said.**

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**"Uncle Ollie!"**

**Ollie winced as the shrill sound stabbed it's way through his sleep addled mind. He opened his eye's and looked up into the big brown eye's that peered happily back down at him. After a moment his brain kicked in and he smiled back, "Hey squirt!" he replied.**

**"You comed to visit." Lian said happily.**

**"I sure did punkin." Ollie said as he sat up on the sofa he had been sleeping on and reached up to rub the back of his stiff neck.**

**"Mom mom mom." a little voice called from Lian's room.**

**"That's Sam...he wants to get out." Lian pointed out.**

**Ollie struggled to his feet and staggered toward the room and looked inside to see a blonde haired toddler trying desperately to climb out of his crib. "Hey kiddo..." Ollie started, before the words died in his throat and a horrified look came over his face. "What the hell..!" he suddenly blurted.**

**"He stinks don't he?" Lian stated casually.**

**Ollie gagged."Uh.. he does that all right." he managed to splutter as he cautiously approached the toddler. The kid had to be almost a year and a half old...weren't they supposed to be house trained by this age?**

**The little boy smiled and held his arms out expectantly while Ollie watched him with his hand covering his nose and mouth.**

**"Do you want me to get Daddy?" Lian asked.**

**Ollie shook his head"Daddy's gone to work...We're on our own here kiddo, just you me and the stink bomb." he replied nasally...Anyway he could do this...couldn't he?**

**Seemingly oblivious to the stench that permeated the room, Lian skipped across the room to where the change table was located. "I'll get everything ready for you Uncle Ollie...I help Daddy all the time." she said as she placed a diaper as well as wipes and powder on the table.**

**Ollie felt weak as he approached the crib, realizing he would eventually have to take his hand off his nose to pick the kid up. He stopped and stared at the toddler, horrified by the thought of what was to come...He'd been in some pretty bad places over the years...but even the sewers he occasionally had to enter in search of the odd elusive criminal didn't smell this bad. He wondered briefly if he would be able to hold his breath long enough to complete the changing procedure...Or maybe he could call Dinah, now there was an idea, she would have been back from that case she was working on in Borneo a couple of days age, she could be there in half an hour... the kid could stay in a shitty diaper that long couldn't he? He looked to where Lian was looking at him expectantly...No, that wouldn't work, she'd tell on him for sure and Roy would never let him live it down. He started to reach towards the baby, holding his breath as long as he could.**

**"Daddy uses this sometimes." Lian said, holding up a compact gas mask, that she had pulled out from the shelf under the change table.**

**Ollie would have laughed if he wasn't so damned relieved...Roy could think practically sometimes. He reached for the mask and smiled wickedly to himself..this was gonna give him plenty of ammunition to tease the boy with later on.**

**Mask in place he approached the crib and lifted the boy out. Feeling confident he carried him to the change table and lay him down, before pulling off his pyjama bottoms, carefully undoing one side of the diaper and cautiously looking at what needed to be cleaned up. He threw his head back and gagged, before refastening the nappy and putting the toddler down on the floor. And walking out of the room.**

**"Where are you going Uncle Ollie?" Lian asked curiously.**

**Ollie removed the mask and replied. "I'm ringing your Aunty Dinah, I'm sure she wants to meet Sam." It didn't matter if Lian told Roy...After all he had his own ammunition to use if Roy wanted to get smart about it, he thought as he placed the gas mask on the kitchen table and reached for the phone.**

**end 12**


	13. Chapter 13

**Part 13**

**"This freakin sucks." Arsenal said, as they yet again came up empty handed, they had checked out all four locations Batman had allocated for them to look into, and turned up nothing..not one lead. And Roy was getting more edgy by the minute.**

**"It'll happen Roy...we'll find them, I know it's hard but we need to keep our heads here. Right now we need to head back to the cave and see if Batman has turned anything up..then we can formulate the next step in the plan." Nightwing said as he prepared to leave.**

**"We can't just give up! She's still out there somewhere and that bastard has her...I'm not going home or to the cave or anywhere until we find her." Roy snapped angry emotion clearly discernable in his voice.**

**Nightwing took a breath, there was no point in arguing with his friend when the archer was as stressed as he was at the moment. "Ok..then where do you suggest we look next?" he asked casually.**

**"How the hell should I know..your the freakin detective..."Roy stopped for a moment realizing that there really was nothing else they could do for now. "All right you win smart ass...But were running out of time here...this sicko...he could kill her...He may have already ki..." Arsenal broke off, hanging his head and running a hand through his hair before adding softly, "And I was worried about Cheshire...Jesus Dick I don't know what I'm gonna do if..." he broke off and turned away from the other hero.**

**Nightwing approached and reached out to place a comforting hand on his friends shoulder. "Roy..."**

**"Just leave me alone a minute will ya...just leave me be!" Roy snapped, his voice breaking with emotion as he pulled his shoulder away from Dicks touch.**

**Nightwing took a couple of steps away from his friend to allow him time to gain control of his emotions, feeling helpless at not being able to say or do anything to ease the burden the archer was carrying. Suddenly his communicator vibrated, and stepping further away Nightwing spoke into it."Nightwing"**

**"Batman here...we have something happening at the suspects last known residence."**

**"What's the situation?"**

**"Where's Arsenal?"**

**"Nearby...he can't hear us." **

**"There are a number of police cars surrounding the house...they've called in a police negotiator, swat teams..."**

**"Shit...Hostage situation?"**

**"Apparently...No guarantees that this is our man, but it's highly likely."**

**"More than highly likely...we're on our way!"**

**"Nightwing."**

**"Yeah."**

**"Make sure his heads in the right place...or keep him away."**

**"Got it."**

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**Nightwing and Arsenal arrived at the scene, a small house in one of the outer suburbs, the street outside was a hive of activity, police cars blocked off the area, snipers were placed in strategic areas and a mobile communications center had been established.**

**They approached Batman who was standing to one side observing what was happening around him. Batman noted instantly that Arsenal hung back, looking tense. He subtlety nodded in the archers direction.**

**"He's ok...he knows he's got to keep it together...What's the situation?" Nightwing asked.**

**"Barricaded in a room at the side of the house..." Batman indicated a small window on the left side of the house. "Only one window...not sure of the layout of the house. He's rigged booby traps on the doors and windows, no ones been able to enter without alerting him yet. They've managed to secure the phone lines and talked to him...his demands are of course unacceptable...he wants his son."**

**"So this is definitely our guy then."**

**Batman nodded. "Identified himself..the womans still alive...he's got her in the room with him...he occasionally drags her to the window to make sure no one forgets whose in control...there's apparently two other's in the house, a twenty seven year old woman and a five year old girl...no word on their status yet"**

**"We have any options here?"**

**"None at the moment, I've been around to the back of the house and the Police and Swat teams have it thoroughly covered, their moving cautiously with this at the moment. It's early day's yet, they'll try and talk him out if they can...All we can do is wait for the moment, when we know exactly what the situation is inside we can go from there...For the moment it's going to have to stay a police operation."**

**Looking towards Arsenal, Nightwing observed that the archer was engrossed in a conversation with a police officer, from the hand gestures it appeared they were discussing the placement of snipers around the area. After watching for a moment Nightwing approached the pair, from the conversation he was hearing he quickly surmised that Arsenal knew the man. The officer walked off as Nightwing arrived to stand beside Arsenal.**

**"Friend of yours?" Nightwing asked.**

**"No..not really we worked in Checkmate together way back." Arsenal said.**

**A disturbance at the window of the house caught their attention, the curtains over the window of the room Batman indicated were pulled aside. **

**Roy watched with horror as Rachael's face appeared in the window, a man standing behind her, his arm wrapped around her holding her upright. He held a gun in one hand and yelled something that couldn't be heard from outside the house, and it was obvious that whilst she was still alive, she was in bad shape, one side of her face was covered in blood and she fought to hold her head up.**

**Roy glanced toward the snipers on the roof across the street. "What the fuck are they waiting for?...Shoot the bastard." he spat angrily.**

**"They can't...he's too close to her." Dick replied.**

**Roy looked back to the window, his face flushed and he tried to control the emotions racing through him as the curtains closed again "I could make that shot." he whispered.**

**Dick spun to face the archer "Don't even think about it...Let the police handle it." he said firmly.**

**"Let the police handle it?...How many times have we seen or heard about this sort of situation going down badly?...The police can't handle it, their not dealing with a sane person here, he can't be negotiated or reasoned with, no one can predict what he's gonna do next, but whatever it is it won't be good...I can stop this...You know it and I know it."**

**"Roy..You can't..it's too close, it'd have to be a kill shot there wouldn't be room for anything else..You can't even think about it on those terms." Dick said.**

**"Can't I?"**

**"No...I won't let you."**

**"Bud, I'd like to see ya try and stop me."**

**"He won't have to, I will." Batman's deep voice came from behind.**

**Roy turned to face him, fear, anger and desperation playing in his eye's. "You don't have a say in this...That's my wife that sick bastards got in there. Are telling me I should sit back and wait until he kills her because you don't want me to take that piece of shit down with a shot I know I can make easily?...Are you saying I should choose his life over her's..cause man that ain't gonna happen, the next time he steps up to that window it can be over...we all know it can."**

**"Roy..." Batman spoke in a softer voice that Roy recognized instantly as being Bruce Wayne..there was no 'Bat' in it, "We all know you're capable of making that shot, there's no question about that...But think for a moment...what if it's possible to get out her out of there alive without you having to take that step?...What if waiting another hour would mean you wouldn't have to have that man's death on your hands..The police have only just begun working on this, it's too early to use lethal force, a bit more time..just give it a bit more time."**

**"She mightn't have more time...as for having that animals death on my hands, I could live with that but I couldn't live with doing nothing and losing her!"**

**"One hour Roy...that's all I'll ask from you. I do understand, don't think for a moment that I don't..Just on hour then it's your call."**

**Roy looked at his feet and ran a hand through his hair. "One hour." he whispered in agreeance before turning and walking off a short distance to lean against a tree.**

**"You're not really going to allow this?" Nightwing asked shocked.**

**Batman looked over at the young archer "We'll do what we have to do." he said.**

**end 13**


	14. Chapter 14

**part 14**

He lowered her gently, and helped her to lay down on the blankets he had placed on the floor to serve as a make shift bed. "It will all be ok soon, you'll see..Once they bring Sam to us we can all be together forever, the way it's supposed to be." he said as he sat beside her and gently kissed her brow.

"Ryan please...don't do this, it's not to late to give yourself up." she whispered hoarsely she had no strength left to fight him, her head pounded painfully and every move caused a wave of pain and dizziness so extreme that she couldn't tell which way her world was facing. "Please Ryan...If you love us you wouldn't want us to lose you, you wouldn't want your son to grow up knowing his father was dead." she pleaded gently, hoping she could win his trust, it may be the only chance for survival that she had.

"Shhh..It's all right don't be afraid, we'll all soon be together." he said stroking her hair.

"Maybe we could both walk out together, they wouldn't hurt you if I was beside you...Ryan let me help you..please?..There has to be another way, I could..."

"SHUT UP...JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP." He suddenly yelled leaping to his feet and brandishing the gun.

She winced and closed her eye's, he was becoming more unstable as time went be, she knew her time was limited he would kill her eventually there wasn't a doubt in her mind about that.

"We belong together, God created us for one another, he said you are mine and he is going to reunite us. They'll bring Sam to us and we'll be together...WHY THE HELL HAVEN"T THEY BROUGHT SAM TO US." he ranted, as he paced back and forwards. He looked at her and strode back towards her, before picking her up again.

She cried out as pain slammed into her body and her world spun once more.

"You tell them...Tell them to bring Sam." he said as he dragged her towards the window again.

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Nightwing watched from a distance as Batman approached the officer in charge and began discussing the situation with him. After a few moments, a clearly distraught man arrived and was quickly lead to the black clad vigilante and the police officer. It was soon apparent that the distraught man was the owner of the house, and by the hand gestures he was using Nightwing surmised that he was telling the other men about the layout of the house.

"That poor bastards family is stuck in there with that psycho as well." Arsenal said softly as he walked over and stood beside Nightwing.

"Looks that way."

"This can't go on Dick...That sick mongrel doesn't deserve to live."

"That's not your call to make Roy, you know that."

"I know...we can't be judge, jury and executioner...But sometimes playing by the rules sucks."

"We have to try, that's what sets us apart from them...from the low lives we have to deal with, we have lines we aren't prepared to cross..ideals that we refuse to betray."

"I agreed to one hour Dick...One hour and to hell with lines and ideals..."

"Roy..."

"No Dick...I won't let this happen...It can't happen, I won't lose her..."

"Roy you're talking about killing a man...Do you know what sort of impact that can have on you?..I know this bastard deserves it but don't you be the one that does it, don't take that weight on yourself, . Something like that could tear you apart, it's not easy for them..." Nightwing indicated the sharp shooters on the roof across the road, "but their trained for this, if it has to happen let the police handle it."

"They can't make a shot like that..I can. And yes, I do know what sort of impact it can have on me, I've been there...I've had to do it before."

Nightwing visibly paled, as he stared at the other man."You...you've killed?...When?..I mean you never told me...Why?" he stammered his usually calm demeanor slipping slightly.

Uncomfortable with his friends intense scrutiny, Arsenal looked away and stared at the ground. " Checkmate...It wasn't an office job you know." he mumbled.

"But...but you never told me." Nightwing repeated.

"I never told anyone, it's not something I want to talk abo...HEY, what's the Bat doing?"

The two heroes looked towards the house. While they had been focused on each other Batman had somehow made his way onto the roof of the building, and was carefully making his way towards the back of it.

"Making sure you don't have to wait that hour." Nightwing stated

end 14


	15. Chapter 15

**Part 15**

**Lowering himself softly to the floor Batman man began to asses the kitchen he had lowered himself into through a sevice hole in the ceiling. The stench of death hit him straight away, it was an odor he had smelt many times before, but no matter how many murders he had witnessed, that odor always made him grimace, his stomach flipped as he crept forward and the source of the stench be came apparent. **

**The woman and child lay murdered, dismembered and disregarded in a corner...Arsenal had every right to fear what this animal would do to the woman he loved Batman thought, as he pushed the image to the back of his mind and cautiously made his way through a door to the living room. **

**Childrens toy's lay scattered on the floor, the furniture tossed around... blood was splattered over most of the room, and a large congealed pool of blood soaked the carpet at one side, this was obviously where the young mother and child were killed he noted, a sick sad feeling welled in the pit of his stomach as he thought of the family that had only a day or so ago lived happily here, he pushed it down again and continued on.**

**Moving forward he came to another doorway that lead into a short hall, a number of rooms branched off, and Batman slowly mowed towards the room on the end where he knew the objects of his search would be.**

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**"What the hell is taking him so long?" Arsenal said impatiently as he paced back and forth.**

**"C'mon Roy it hasn't been that long..." Nightwing started.**

**"I know, I know...It's just...I don't know man, the waiting's just getting to me is all."**

**"I understand bud...don't think I don't...He'll get this bastard Roy, don't doubt that for a moment, if he's gone in there, he's gone in knowing he can finish it...knowing this is the best chance of bringing Rachael and the others out alive..It'll all be..."**

**"Look at those vultures...How the hell do they find out these things?." Arsenal cut in, indicating a large group of journalists that had begun to form at the end of the street.**

**"Their just doing their jobs Roy...We mightn't like it but we all read the papers...This is news, news is important."**

**"Yeah, I know...As long as the cops keep them way back there, they ain't gonna be getting in the way."**

**The two heroes looked back towards the house in time to watch as the curtain was again pulled aside and Rachael appeared, Ryan held the gun to her head and again began to yell.**

**"Stupid bastard doesn't get that they can't hear him." Arsenal said quietly, his eye's fixed on the young woman in the mad mans arms.**

**"Doesn't matter, as long as he shows her face every now and then we know she's still alive." Nightwing replied.**

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**Batman stood near the door, listening carefully to the sounds from inside the room. A male voice inside began to yell, and he knew from the direction the voice was coming from that the man was at the window, which meant that the woman was with him, that had been Ryan's routine from the start, to drag the woman to the window as protection.**

**The yelling stopped and Batman could hear muffled crying, and a mans voice offering reassurance. The crying continued and the man, tiring of it began to yell again. The light from inside the room that shone under the doorway was broken by shadow. Watching it intently Batman soon realized the man was pacing back and forth in front of the door. Waiting momentarily for the shadow to appear in the light again, Batman sprang into action, kicking the door open with a tremendously powerful kick, the wood splintered and the door caved inwards.**

**Ryan screamed in fright as the impact of the door sent him flying across the room, he sprawled on the floor momentarily before scurrying into a corner. "DEMON...DEMON." he screamed horrified as the dark caped figure swooped in and ended his screams with one bone shaking punch to the jaw.**

**Rachael lay on her side watching the drama unfolding in front of her, too weak to move she could only stare, stunned, then realizing her nightmare had finally ended she began to sob.**

**"Your safe now." Batman said softly as he knelt beside her.**

**"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..I didn't mean to cry." she whispered hoarsely.**

**"You have nothing to be sorry about." He leaned down and gently scooped her up. "There's someone waiting outside who's anxious to see you." he said as he carried her out the door.**

**end 15**


	16. Chapter 16

**Part 16**

**Dinah waked into the room to see Roy pacing back and forth. "Wearing a hole in the floor isn't gonna do anyone any good Boyo." she said.**

**Roy jumped slightly at the unexpected sound of her voice and turned to face her. "Dinah?...I didn't hear you come in." he replied.**

**"That's pretty obvious...She with the doctors?"**

**"Yeah...They'll talk to me once they've finished examining her. I wanted to stay but they wouldn't let me." Roy said as he began to pace again.**

**Noting the stressed demeanor and dark rings under his eye's Dinah replied."I wonder why...You don't half radiate tense, concerned husband vibes much now do you?" **

**Roy paused."Ollie told you everything?"**

**"Of course he did, you didn't expect him not to did you?"**

**"Well I...No I guess not...I just wanted to tell you some of it myself is all."**

**"Well I wish you would have...But Ollie needed a diaper changer, and I was first on his list, so he had to explain some things."**

**"He called you in to change a diaper?" Roy asked raising one eyebrow.**

**"Well there are some things that even Ollie isn't brave enough to tackle." she laughed softly. "Look Boyo..I want you to know I'm not going to be on your case about this...Ollie and I both agreed that although we don't like the way you left us out of the loop, we also understand that your situation is far from normal. Having Lian in your life means you have no choice but to think about Cheshire's reaction to something like this." she paused and placed the duffel bag she was carrying on the floor. "Though thinking about it before you leapt in boots and all might have been a better idea."**

**"I did think about it...I just thought about it more afterwards that's all, I woulda told everyone eventually..I just wasn't sure if I should face Chesh and tell her before it became common knowledge...I mean if she reacted badly, at least I'd..."**

**"You'd what?...Get your ass kicked and not have anyone watching your back? Or you'd figure out that you'd have to tell everyone anyway because you'd need some of your friends and family to watch out for you and support you? I've got news for you Kiddo, that's what families do..It's about time you started to realize that. Your not alone in the world Roy... we're all here for you..if you just remember that you'll run into a lot less heartache in the future."**

**Roy hung his head..Dinah was right, he knew that. He was just so used to facing the world on his own that it had become almost second nature...He knew Dinah was there when he needed her, and he and Ollie had patched up their differences, but he still occasionally slipped back into thinking the way he had when times weren't so good..when he had to make decisions for himself and face whatever consequences came with them. "I'm sorry." was all he could think to say.**

**"Don't be sorry Kiddo...lectures over...Your starting a new life here, you've got a beautiful family and although I haven't met Rachael I know she has to be pretty darned special to knock you off your feet like this, be excited! The future's looking bright for you Boyo." she said as she approached him and pulled him into a hug. "Now...I've thrown a change of clothes in that bag for you...you'd be best to change out of your costume while your here. The media's having a field day with this, their all over this like a rash. Not only is the kidnapping and murder a big story, but you've made headlines yourself."**

**"Me?"**

**"Well you and Rachael..they had pictures on the news of you climbing into the ambulance with her, and they've put two and two together, anyone in a costume is fair game in the media world. There's a bunch of them waiting outside to hospital for you to walk back out..So when you do it had best be in civies if you want to get past them."**

**"Shit..if Chesh didn't know before, she will now." Roy cursed, as he picked up the bag and went to change.**

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**Later that evening Roy sat beside Rachael's bed...He had been relieved to know that she would recover from the broken ribs and otherphysical injuries she had received. He wasn't so sure about the emotional damage though...but then emotional damage always wounded more deeply than physical damage could, he knew that from his own experiences. She had woken up a few times throughout the afternoon, and although she had seemed in good spirits, especially in front of Dinah, Roy knew she was holding a lot of things back, things that would eventually come to the surface. He ran a hand through his hair and yawned..God he was tired he thought as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eye's.**

**A gentle hand on his shoulder jolted Roy awake, he glanced at Dinah confused, before realizing he had fallen asleep.**

**"A brought you a coffee...But that's not what you need Boyo...you need to go home and rest." she said softly.**

**"No..I'm fine, just resting my eye's for a minute." Roy said as he sat up and accepted the coffee.**

**"Crap..it's more than your eye's that needs resting, you look terrible."**

**"I'm not going anywhere Dinah..this is where I belong at the moment."**

**"Dinah's right Roy..you look terrible, you need to go home." Rachael's gentle voice drifted from the hospital bed.**

**Roy set his coffee aside and leaned over to take her hand in his. "I'm not leaving you here alone." he said softly.**

**"Honey..go home, please..At least check on Lian and Sam, I'll be fine."**

**"Lian and Sam are fine, Ollie's with them." Roy replied as he gently pushed a few strands of hair away from her bruised face.**

**"Roy..." Dinah started.**

**"No Dinah!" Roy cut her off firmly.**

**Rachael focused on his eye's, she was tired.. and having Roy here made her feel like she had to keep putting on a brave face, she loved him for being there for her, but now she needed him to step back a little, allow her some time to herself to sort through the emotions that she was having to suppress. "Please Roy..I need some time alone."**

**He looked at her, saying nothing for a moment, not sure if he should feel hurt or concerned or what he should do.**

**"Ok that's it Boyo..Your going to stop smothering this poor girl and come with me." Dinah said as she pulled the reluctant red head to his feet.**

**"But I...I." he looked at Rachael once more. "Oh all right, but I'm gonna be back early in the morning." he finally mumbled as he leant down to gently kiss her goodbye.**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**On opening the door to his apartment, Roy stepped in and froze..."What the hell?" he said shocked.**

**Dinah pushed past him and stopped dead, Ollie had been asleep on the living room rug and little Sam had been curled up beside him, both had awoken as Roy and Dinah had entered.**

**Roy looked around, the apartment was in chaos, toys were scattered through the kitchen and living room, childrens books and videos spread all over the floor, the remains of a half hearted attempt at some sort of cubby house construction out of blankets was laying over the kitchen table, and the sofa and arm chairs had been pushed aside.**

**"Have fun?" Roy asked as he cocked one eyebrow.**

**Little Sam climbed to his feet and toddled as fast as his chubby little legs allowed, over to Roy and put his hands up to be picked up.**

**"Hey little buddy." Roy said scooping the boy up.."What the...What's he got all over him?" He asked as he held the toddler out away from himself and frowned in distaste.**

**"Oh that...peanut butter and jelly..That's what he had for dinner." Ollie said as he sat up.**

**"Ollie, peanut butter and jelly?..What kind of food is that to give him for diner." Dinah scolded.**

**"Well I woulda given him some of the chilli I made but Lian said babies don't eat stuff like that. **

**"CHILLI." both Dinah and Roy said at the same time.**

**"Yeah well, you didn't exactly tell me what to feed him." Ollie mumbled.**

**"Or how to change a diaper." Roy chucked.**

**"Hey...That's not exactly my area of expertise you know...You weren't exactly in nappies when I took ya to live with me." Ollie said in an indignant voice.**

**"Ok..I'll concede that point, we didn't exactly get to run through the parenting skills you'd require...But Lians obviously in bed asleep, they've both been fed, Sam looks happy and you survived the day..So all in all I think you can give yourself a pat on the back old man." Roy said as he headed towards the bathroom with the sticky toddler.**

**Ollie waited until Roy disappeared before flopping back on the rug.."Old man?...I feel like an old man after today...I don't know how the hell he does this...Give me Deathstroke any day." he moaned.**

**End 16**


	17. Chapter 17

****

Part 17

A week after the kidnapping Rachael returned home from the hospital. Roy had arranged for Dinah to look after the children while he picked her up and brought her home, and Rachael was delighted to see Lian waiting for her as soon as they walked in the door, Dinah had already put Sam down for his afternoon nap, and after a peek in the room at the sleeping toddler, Rachael settled on the sofa.

Lian climbed up beside her, looking concerned as she inspected the bruises on her face that had slowly begun to fade.

"Do they hurt?" she asked worriedly.

Rachael reached over and stroked her hand reassuringly down the childs silky hair. "Not much sweetheart...my ribs still hurt a bit, but the rest is nearly better."

"My Daddy sometimes gets owies like that, but they go away after a while...He gotted broken ribs once too, he said they hurt a bit but they got better too"

"Well I'll get better soon as well."

"A bad man hurt you, didn't he?" Lian asked, an angry frown forming on her face.

"A very bad man honey."

"Did my Daddy beat the bad man up? 'Cause he's good at that...well, 'cept for the ones that beat Daddy up first."

"No he didn't Uncle Batman did, and you need to let Rachael rest." Roy said as he walked over intending to move Lian away...He didn't want Rachael getting upset by having to discuss what happened with the little girl.

"Aww Daddy."

"She's ok Roy...I'm just so happy to see her again, you know I love having her around."

"Yes...but you need to rest." Roy said as he reached down and picked Lian up.

Rachael looked up at him, all week he had been tip toeing around what had happened, she knew he was only trying to protect her but she needed him to stop, otherwise she found herself having to push him away emotionally...she couldn't cope with dealing with her thoughts and feelings as well as worrying about what he was going through.

"Roy stop fussing." She snapped, more firmly than she had meant to.

A look of hurt flitted across Roy's face. "Sorry." he mumbled.

Rachael sighed."I think we need to talk." she said softly.

Dinah, who had been in the kitchen listening to the conversation, spoke up. "Lian honey, get your coat and we'll go out for a while to let Daddy and Rachael have some time alone."

Roy lowered the little girl to the floor. "Thanks." he said, nodding at Dinah.

"No probs Boyo...call me on my cell when your ready for us to come back." she said as she held the door open for Lian to go through and followed the little girl out, closing the door behind them.

"Roy...come here." Rachael said patting the sofa beside her.

Roy sat down and Rachael moved to lean against his side as he wrapped an arm around her, carefull not to hurt her ribs.

They sat quietly for a moment, both savoring the physical contact.

Finally Roy sighed. "Baby I just wish I could take this all away and make it right again...I wish I could fix things for you." he said softly.

She looked up at him, "You don't have to fix it, I love you for wishing you could, but I don't need it fixed...I just need time that's all. I need to deal with a lot of this in my own way..I may never be able to talk about everything that happened, but I know I can work through it, I've been through some of this before after the last time Ryan tried to destroy my life...granted things were worse this time, much worse. But I have an advantage I didn't have the first time..this time I know I'm strong enough to deal with it...and I have you.

Roy kissed the top of her head, and gently stroked her hair.."I just feel so damn useless..I don't know what to do to help."

"You can help by not trying to protect me so much...I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love any man, I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing you away but when your crowding me in by being so darn protective I have to...Just let things return to normal...I know I still have things to work through emotionally but I can do that with time..you understand don't you?"

Roy placed a gentle kiss on her lips." Yeah I understand." he said, he knew exactly what she meant..sometimes no one else can make things right, he faced enough problems in his life to realize that.

"Good..Now if you need to fix something Mr fixit..you can go and fix us both a cup of coffee." she said giving him a gentle shove.

He laughed as he rose and headed for the kitchen "Now that's something I know I can do." he said.

end 17


	18. Chapter 18

Part 18

It had been a little over a month since Rachael had returned home, and while she was still dealing with some of the emotional effects of the kidnapping, Roy could see that she was indeed strong enough to cope, not only that, but she had gradually begun to talk to him about some of the things that had happened. He knew things were going to be all right there was finally a reason to look towards the future, his life was taking a good turn for once.

They had talked about moving...they both realized they needed a bigger apartment, the children both needed their own rooms, but they were thinking of more than shifting apartments..In fact they had talked about shifting to another state...Arizona. It was a move that would take him far away from the rest of his friends and family, and Rachael wanted him to really think about how he felt about that, but it was something he had always dreamed about, and it was somewhere he felt secure and at home, a safe place to settle and raise a family.

It was cold as he walked from the car to the school to pick Lian up and he pulled his jacket tighter around himself..his breath blowing cloudy puffs into the air as he walked, it was only a couple of weeks until Christmas, school would be breaking up for the holidays, and Lian was already excited about seeing Dick, Garth, Wally and Donna for their Traditional Christmas get together at Wayne manor, Roy was looking forward to it as well, The other Titans..with the exception of Dick, hadn't met Rachael and Sam yet, Roy had called Wally, but Donna and Garth had not been contactable. That wasn't unusual they all had busy lives, but Roy knew come hell or high water the five of them would get together at some stage for the holiday.

"Daddy!" Lian's excited little voice cut into his thoughts as she ran towards him.

"Hey Baby doll." He said smiling at her happy face, as he took her hand and started back towards the car. "You have a good day?" he asked happily.

Lian nodded enthusiastically. "I saw Mommy today." she said excitedly.

Roy instantly stopped walking and crouched down to Lians level...grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him so he could look into her eye's...gone was the smile he had moments before, replaced by a look of almost panic. "What...When? " he demanded.

Lians own smile faltered and dropped, suddenly realizing her words had upset her father. "At recess...she came to the fence, she had a long coat and a big hat on." the little girl replied.

"And you went over to her?...Lian why?...We've talked about this before..You know you're supposed to go straight to the teacher if your Mother shows up...What were you thinking? Why?" Roy fired the questions at the child, oblivious to the tears beginning to well in her eye's.

"It was Mommy..I..."

"What did she say? Tell me what she wanted." Roy demanded, panic making his voice rise.

Lian sniffled "She asked if I was happy...She asked about Rachael and Sam, she wanted to know if Rachael was nice."

""What else did she say Lian?...You have to tell me everything." Roy snapped.

"Nothing else Daddy..I had to go back into school...I'm sorry Daddy..But it was Mommy...it was Mommy." she began to sob.

Her cries cut through Roy's panicked thoughts like a knife..he pulled her to him, "Sweetheart I'm sorry. Daddy's sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." he murmured hugging her tightly to him.

As her sobs faded away, he drew back and looked at her "It's going to be okay." he said, trying to reassure himself as well as the little girl.

He kissed her and stood up.."C'mon lets go home baby." he said leading her towards the car. As he walked he glanced around, Cheshire could be anywhere..he would have to be doubly cautious until he knew what her next move would be, until then he wouldn't be leaving Rachael alone, not even for a moment.

end 18


	19. Chapter 19

**Part 19**

**Roy slowly climbed out of bed and began to move stealthily towards the bedroom door, careful not to wake Rachael who was sleeping soundly. It was the third night in a row that he hadn't been able to sleep properly, the incident with Cheshire playing constantly on his mind. He reached out to open the door and gently turned the handle.**

**"And where do you think you're going?" Rachael's sleepy, but indignant voice drifted over to him.**

**He turned to look at her, even in the dark he could clearly see her propped up on one elbow staring at him.**

**"Shhh, go back to sleep, I didn't mean to wake you. " Roy whispered.**

**"Don't you shush me Roy Harper, how can I sleep knowing your sitting up worrying again?"**

**"I'm not worrying, I just couldn't sleep."**

**"Don't stand there telling me lies..get back over here." she scolded playfully.**

**"It's not a lie...Well ok, it might have been a little one." Roy replied sheepishly as he walked back over to the bed and climbed back under the blankets.**

**Rachael pushed him onto his back and propped herself up to look into his eye's. "You can't keep this up Roy..this worrying, not sleeping. It's not going to help you know." she said as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.**

**"I know..I can't help it." he whispered wrapping her in his arms.**

**She lay her head on his chest and sighed. "Your so worried about Cheshire doing something that's going to destroy the life you have, that your tearing that same life apart worrying..." she murmured as she ran her hands gently up and down his chest, feeling the ridges of his muscles rise and fall under her finger tips.**

**"You don't know what Chesh is capable of..."**

**"No I don't, I'll admit that. But I do know that she is a mother, and being a mother myself, I can't believe she would do anything that would hurt Lian..that includes hurting those she loves." Rachael said as she continued tracing patterns on his chest, smiling to her self as she felt him tense as she ran a finger nail lightly around his nipple.**

**"Don't bet on it..she's tried to take me out more than once." he replied, his voice taking on a huskier tone.**

**"Yes, but she hasn't, and from what I've heard, if she really wanted you dead I wouldn't be talking to you now. Something has stopped her from taking that step, and that something is that precious little girl in the next room." she said softly as she shifted her position and began to feather little kisses over his neck and chest,moving down to gently run her tongue around the other nipple.**

**He moaned softly, and slid his hands under her pyjamas top and began to rub them softly over her back. "I just think..."**

**"Stop thinking." she whispered as she moved lower.**

**"I can't..I've tried." he said softly, his voice breaking as his breathing became erratic."**

**"Then think about something else." she murmured breathlessly against his skin.**

**"I...Oh shit..what are you..."**

**"Shh...stop it." she murmured, as she set about making sure that what he was feeling, left no room for anymore thinking.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**"No Ollie."**

**"C'mon kid, it'll be just like old times..you and me against the forces of injustice."**

**"I said no...Some other time maybe."**

**"I've only got a couple of days here, then I have to go back...C'mon get your fancy PJ's on and we'll go crack some heads."**

**"No!"**

**"Roy, go with Ollie you haven't been out as Arsenal for ages..It'll get your mind off things." Rachael tried to reason.**

**"I'm not leaving you, not until we know what Cheshire's up to." Roy said impatiently, he was beginning to wish Ollie hadn't turned up that afternoon to visit. Now the kids had been put to bed he was wanting Roy to go out with him as Green Arrow and Arsenal, and there was no way in hell Roy was leaving Rachael alone.**

**"I'll be fine...She may not ever do anything..You can't put your life onhold forever." Rachael pleaded.**

**"Look I said no..stop asking me..Can't you see I'm doing what I have to do?" Roy yelled, finally snapping under the pressure. He jumped to his feet and stalked off to the bedroom slamming the door behind him.**

**Rachael sat in stunned silence, as she stared at the closed door.**

**"Always was a stubborn ass." Ollie said as he leaned back in the armchair and put his hands behind his head.**

**"He's tired...I haven't seen him react like this before." Rachael murmured.**

**"Don't worry about it kid...He gets his back up occasionally over stuff he thinks is important, but he gets over it." Ollie said.**

**The phone rang and Rachael stood up to go answer it, just as she reached for it, it stopped. "Roy's picked up the extension in the bedroom." she said. "Do you want a cup of coffee?"**

**"Nah I'm good."**

**"He worries too much." Rachael said softly.**

**"Not too much...He's knows Cheshire only too..." Ollie stopped talking as Roy walked back out of the room.**

**He looked at Rachael, his expression seemingly more relaxed than it had been in weeks. "Ryan's dead." he blurted.**

**Rachael looked stunned as Roy's words slowly sank in..Feeling a little guilty that she felt relief at his words. "What?...How?"**

**"That was Dick on the phone, he's been monitoring whats been happening with that sicko pretty closely for me...Apparently they transferred him from the institution they've been keeping him at temporarily, to a more permanent prison...Cut a long story short, something happened on the way from one place to the other, they found his guards unconscious, and him dead." Roy walked over and pulled Rachael into a hug, then looking at Ollie he added."The only marks on him were some scratches on his face...he was poisoned."**

**"Cheshire?" Ollie asked.**

**"Apparently the poison is one she's been known to use before." Roy looked down into Rachael's eye's. "It's over...We don't have to worry about Ryan...or Cheshire any more." he said, his body feeling weak with relief.**

**"But why don't we have to worry about Cheshire? She's still around isn't she?" Rachael asked confused.**

**"Kid.. her bumping off Ryan was her way of giving you the thumbs up, she's not gonna waste him if she wanted to go after you. It was a message, one that's loud and clear." Ollie said. "So now junior here can get of his ass and come kick some low life butts with me." he added happily.**

**end 19**


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